The French language is spoken by nearly 300 million people around the world. It is the official language in 29 different countries, including France, Switzerland, Belgium, and Canada. For this reason, learning French can be a valuable skill.
Finding Free College French Language Courses Online
Since French is a popular foreign language choice for college students across the United States, there are a number of free online resources devoted to enhancing your knowledge of French grammar and vocabulary. Although you won't earn college credit for this work, it's a great way to get the extra practice you need to achieve fluency in your language study. For example:
- The University of Texas offers a free college level French course that would provide useful practice for any serious French student. The course includes video and audio clips, as well as interactive lessons. The site is written primarily in French, with some English descriptions.
- Jacques Léon's Introduction to French is a helpful web course for students in need of a quick overview of basic grammar and vocabulary. Lessons are written in both English and French, so the course is easy to follow if you have minimal previous experience with the French language.
- Le Grimoire: Introduction to French Studies par Pascal Michelucci is a complete college level university French course from the University of Toronto. Since no English descriptions are included in the lessons, however, this course is best suited for students who already have significant French language experience.
- French Steps is a free online French course from the BBC. The course is appropriate as a refresher for beginning level college French students. Additional study guides are available for a small fee.
- Learner.org offers a series of streaming video lessons covering French language vocabulary for beginning to intermediate level college students. However, you'll need to complete a short registration process in order to view the video clips.
- French Assistant features a number of free audio clips and French lessons, plus a tool that generates random study questions to help you prepare for upcoming exams. A short registration process is necessary, however.
- Language Guide provides brief tutorials and audio clips covering a number of French language topics. Use this site as a supplemental study guide for your regular French language course.
Using yourDictionary.com as a French Study Aid
As you're completing your French language studies, you may find yourself in need of an online dictionary to assist with translations. The yourDictionary.com website offers a simple search bar to help your translate words from English to French or French to English. Simply type the word you are looking for into the box and hit "Search" to be taken to a page with the definition, translation, and pronunciation. Links are also provided to help you access specialty dictionaries covering terms in fields such as medicine, business, education, and history.
Fun Ways to Practice French
Once you've taken advantage of the college French courses online, there are many ways you can have fun while practicing what you've learned. For example:
- RPG Legends offers an assortment of free, yet legal, role playing games based on Super Nintendo titles. Since all of the games are in French, this is an excellent way to boost your comprehension skills.
- Google Video has a special section devoted to free French language video clips.
- Radio France International lets you listen to a number of French language radio shows.
- Project Gutenberg offers an assortment of free French language e-books that you can download.
- Pen Pal Party lets you request a pen pal who shares your interests and is a native French speaker.
- Yahoo! Chat lets you send instant messages to your French friends.
- Houghton Mifflin, a publisher of college French textbooks, has prepared a list of links to various websites exploring the French culture.
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